


let's get these teen hearts beating faster, faster

by etselec



Series: fast times at joetrick high (ft. petekey) [1]
Category: Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Christmas Vibes, Fluff, M/M, teenage boys r dumb and oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-04-30 17:37:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5173160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etselec/pseuds/etselec
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’m not, like, a ghost or anything. I got shoved into a locker,”  Patrick said, which he later realized how stupid he sounded.  </p><p>There was sudden squeak of shoes getting closer and closer to Patrick. “How do I know you’re not a trapped soul that died in this very locker?”</p><p>“Maybe I am,” Patrick teased, knocking his fist against the metal of the locker, “you’ve got to free me, then.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> save me from this joetrick hell

Patrick stared at his backpack at the bottom of the stairs, reduced to a crumpled lump on the floor. He kicked his backpack to the right and found himself in the kitchen.

His mom was busy, grabbing toast out of the toaster. “Hi sweetie,” she said, turning her head around, “I’m running late, you think you could toast yourself a Pop Tart?”

Patrick sighed and ran a hand over his wild hair. “I guess.” He reached his hand across the counter to his hat and set it on his head. Brushes are stupid, he decided.

His mom walked over to him, her heels clicking across the kitchen tiles. She placed a kiss on the side of his face, the scent of flowery perfume and fruity shampoo making Patrick wrinkle his nose. “I’ll see you after 6. I love you and have a great day back, you hear me?”

“Yeah, love you, too,” Patrick mumbled. He watched his mom grab her purse and run out the door, leaving the house silent.

When Patrick got back to school, it would be the start of second semester.

Winter break had just ended and finals were a couple weeks ago which meant semester number two AKA harder schoolwork and AKA Patrick was basically dead.

He decided to skip the Pop Tart and went straight upstairs to change into something for school. Settling for a sweatshirt and jeans, he slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed out the door into the crisp winter air. By the time he walked a block down to his bus stop, his cheeks were already bright red.

“Trick, I fuckin’ missed you, bro,” an arm was suddenly around his neck and a chin was resting on his shoulder, warm and familiar.

Patrick shoved them off. “It’s good to see you too, Pete.”

“Two weeks of no Patrick? Winter break was basically my worst nightmare,” Pete said, hopping around on one foot on the sidewalk.

Patrick shoved his gloved hands into his pockets. “Can’t be too bad, though. What about your boytoy?”

Patrick heard Pete scoff. “Mikey’s not my boytoy. We’re in a committed relationship.”

Patrick shrugged. “There you go. I imagine he kept you distracted.”

Pete shoveled snow into a pile on the sidewalk with his boots. “Nah, the Ways went to New Jersey for Christmas. I was all by my lonesome.”

Patrick frowned and tilted his head. “You should’ve called me. I’ve had this riff I’ve been working on for days and I just needed lyrics to go with it.”

“ _Dude_ , I thought you were totally busy,” Pete’s eyes widened and he placed both his hands on Patrick’s cheeks, “your brother was back from college, right? I didn’t want to bother you guys.”

Patrick swatted Pete’s hands away. “Yeah, but… that’s all. It’s not like we all went a giant family trip or something.”

“Shit, dude,” Pete laughed, staring at his boots.

Patrick rolled his eyes. “Whatever, at least you get to see your boyfriend again.”

“Oh, fuck yeah,” Pete bounced in place a little, “what about you, Trick, where’s your boyfriend?”

“Don’t gotta boyfriend,” Patrick mumbled under his breath, “We’re both fucking seniors and I still get pushed into lockers, you really think someone would like me?”

Pete wrapped his arm around Patrick’s shoulders in sympathy. “I’d date you, Patrick. If I wasn’t with Mikeyway, I’d date you.”

Patrick pushed Pete away… again. “Ew, _dude_.”

“What the fuck, you wouldn’t date me? _I’d_ date me,” Pete said as the bus rounded the corner.

“Once again,” Patrick said, climbing up the stairs into the bus, “ _eww_.”

—

Pete had disappeared off to his group of other emos and Patrick was left walking back into school alone. He could tell pretty much 99% of the people did not want to be back after a two week break—Patrick included.

He sighed and neared his locker, entering his combination and taking off his backpack to set his books inside. But then, of course, he was welcome back to school by some of his _favorite_ people.

“Hey, it’s Patty,” one of the jocks that made Patrick’s life _hell_ for years, said.

“Boy, did _I_ miss you, Pat,” another said, knowing that Patrick absolutely hated being called that.

Patrick whipped around. “Fuck off guys, school just started up again.”

The two boys looked at each other, laughed and proceeded to shove Patrick into his locker, his backpack unattended in the halls.

Eventually, of course, the bell rang and the two jocks were gone, leaving Patrick stuck inside the locker until someone walked by or until next period. Figures. He’d been through this before, but he certainly never liked it.

It was about five minutes into the period when suddenly a squeak of shoes caught his attention.

“Hey, is anyone out there?” Patrick called.

No answer.

“I’m not, like, a ghost or anything. I got shoved into a locker,”  Patrick said, which he later realized how stupid he sounded.

There was sudden squeak of shoes getting closer and closer to Patrick. “How do I know you’re not a trapped soul that died in this very locker?”

“Maybe I am,” Patrick teased, knocking his fist against the metal of the locker, “you’ve got to free me, then.” He felt a hand touch the locker.

“What’s your combination?”

“05-10-25.”

Patrick listened to the clicks of the lock being turned and finally, the door opened and the locker was flooded with light. He climbed out and picked up his books and placed them into his locker. He then slung his backpack on his shoulders.

Once he closed his locker, he met eyes with a curly haired boy with bright blue eyes.

“You’re a little short for a ghost,” the boy said, tilting his head.

Patrick scoffed. How come he’d never seen this boy around? He _was_ rather cute, he had to have noticed him at some point.  “Are you new?”

The boy stuck his hands in his jean pockets. “Yeah, I just moved here.”

“I’m Patrick,” he stuck his hand out.

The boy shook Patrick’s hand and grinned. “I’m Joe and I kind of need help.”

Patrick shrugged. “Yeah, sure, what do you need?”

“You know where Room 115 is?” Joe asked, pointing to his schedule.

Patrick brightened. “Oh, that’s my first class, too. We can walk there together.”

Joe smiled down at him. “Sure thing, ghostboy.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> help i wrote this in an hour im so invested in this

Patrick lead Joe to English silently. He noticed Joe look at him a couple times but he quickly looked away immediately afterwards. Was English class always this far away?

“You’re a senior?” Joe asked, attempting to make small talk.

Cute boy or not, Patrick did not like small talk. “Uh, yeah.” It was kind of embarrassing, though, he was a senior and still getting shoved into lockers.

“Me too,” Joe only smiled and looked at him with his wide blue eyes, “it’s kind of stupid, my dad got a job out in Chicago when I started my senior year at my old school. So I had to move out here after winter break,” he stared up at the ceiling, “It’s kind of funny how winter break at my old school ended the same as the one here did.”

“I’m sorry,” Patrick blurted out, not knowing what to say, “I can’t imagine how difficult it must’ve been for you.”

“Nah it’s alright,” Joe shrugged as they got closer to the classroom, “I already met _you_.”

Patrick yanked on the bill of his cap to somewhat cover his blush. “Bet you had tons of friend back in… wherever you were from.”

“Indiana,” Joe finished for him, “and  _definitely_ not tons.”

Patrick wanted to ask something else but they had already made it to the room. He stopped in front of the door. “What period do you have lunch?”

“Uh, 5th, I think,” Joe looked around.

“Great! You should sit with me and my friends. Meet me by my locker before lunch,” Patrick gave a thumbs up and turned the knob and stepped into the classroom. Immediately, all eyes were on Patrick and Joe who shyly popped out from behind Patrick.

“Mr. Stump, you are fifteen minutes late to class. I hope you have some sort of explanation,” his english teacher folded her arms and stared him down.

“I, uh,” Patrick turned red, “he, I mean, Joe’s new and he didn’t know where this room was.” He gestured to Joe who waved to the class sheepishly.

“Oh,” his teacher’s features softened, “oh yes, I remember. You’re Mr. Joe Trohman?”

Joe nodded. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m Mrs. Edward,” she drawled out, tapping a pencil against her desk, “boys, why don’t you take a seat?”

Patrick swallowed and gave a nod. He sat down in his desk, with Joe taking the one right next to him.

As Mrs. Edward began to start announcing the next book they would be reading, Patrick was paying no attention. His stomach was doing flips and he couldn’t keep his leg from bouncing up and down.

He can’t believe he actually made a _friend_ today. An actual _friend_. Not only did he make a friend, he made a _cute_ friend, a very cute friend that— _oh God_ , Joe was going to ruin Patrick’s life.

The bell finally rang just as Mrs. Edward started to pass novels out to the class. Patrick grabbed the book and ran to meet Joe out the door. He quickly reached out his hand to touch his shoulder. “Hey, I’ll see you after, um, 4th period then?”

Joe chuckled. “Yes, of course, don’t worry.”

Patrick’s ears tinged pink. “You sure you’re okay finding your other classes?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Joe shrugged, “ _you_ don’t wanna be late to your next class.”

“No, dude, I insist,” Patrick offered, “the teacher won’t care.”

Joe only shook his head and laughed. “I’m fine, okay? I’ll see you after 4th.”

Patrick watched Joe walk down the hallway, realizing it’d only been like an hour and Patrick already developed a crush on his new friend.

Fucking second semester.

—

Patrick later arrived into his 4th period class, still thinking about curly hair and ocean blue eyes.

He had just sat down in his seat when all of the sudden, he felt a poking in his side. Patrick looked down to see Pete poking a pen at him.

“Quit it, Pete,” Patrick slapped Pete’s hand away.

“How’s your day back been, Tricky?” Pete scooched his desk closer to Patrick.

“I made a new friend,” Patrick said simply. No big _deal._

Pete perked up. “And tell me about this new friend.”

“His name is Joe, he was bright blue eyes, curly hair, and he’s new,” Patrick said, his face turning red from embarrassment. Great.

Pete chuckled. “He’s cute, I assume.”

Patrick clawed at his face as if it would stop it from getting more red.

“You like him,” Pete sighed, doodling scribbles on Patrick’s notebook.

Patrick tried to hide under his cap. “Well, he _is_ cute like you said.”

Pete bounced in his seat a little. “I can’t wait to meet this mystery boy.”

“You’ll meet him very soon,” Patrick assured, pushing Pete’s desk back into it’s row, “I promise you that.”

Pete let out another sigh. “My little Patrick finally has a crush.”

“It’s not my _first_ , I had a crush on Elisa and went out with her last year,” Patrick explained stubbornly, “don’t you dare say it doesn’t count. Two dates and then never talking again _totally_ counts.”

Pete scoffed.

“You wanna talk relationships, dude? What about Mikey? He thought you were joking every time you asked him out last year.”

“Mikey’s a precious angel, he didn’t know,” Pete said looking offended, “it was when I kissed him at Homecoming that he realized.”

“You’re never serious, I don’t blame him,” Patrick mumbled, flipping his math notebook open to a page where Pete did not draw a dick on.

Pete looked ready to protest but he bit his lip. “Enough about me, what about your cute friend? Is he nice?”

“I only talked to him for a little bit but he seems nice,” Patrick shrugged, “I—”

“Good afternoon, class,” their math teacher interrupted, “please take out last night’s homework.”

Patrick blew air out of his nose and tugged a crumpled piece of notebook paper out of his backpack, smoothing it down on his desk. Just as he was about to pick his pencil up to right his name up at the top, a wad of yellow paper came flying onto his desk. He immediately looked to Pete who avoided eye contact with Patrick, but he could still tell that Pete was trying not to grin.

He uncrumpled the piece of yellow paper to see a doodle of what looked like Pete and Mikey holding hands and a doodle of Patrick (obviously, because this stick figure had a hat on) holding hands with a stick figure with curly hair (Joe, most likely, based on Patrick's description).

Patrick turned bright red again and quickly scrawled “FUCK OFF” on the back of the paper and slammed it down on Pete’s desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have some ideas for this fic and i literally have the next chapter partially written in google docs in another tab so expect more from this fic very soon


	3. Chapter 3

“Miss me?”

Patrick jumped and turned around to find Joe smiling at him, all peppy and excited. “Jesus, you scared me.” He slammed his locker closed and faced Joe.

“Sorry, hah,” Joe rubbed the back of his neck, “I kind of followed you to your locker because it just so happens that my math class is right across the hall from your class.”

Patrick’s stomach felt all strange again and his heart started to beat faster. “That’s alright. Are you ready?”

“Hell yes,” Joe pushed a loose strand of hair away from his face.

Patrick started to walk towards the lunchroom, making sure Joe was following him. It was funny to see Joe still looking interested at all of the cork boards and banners all over the school since he was new, while Patrick had been seeing these things for years and even forgot about them.

Patrick spotted Pete, Mikey, and Andy all sitting together at their usual table. He waved at them and started off faster, urging Joe to come closer.

“Hey guys,” Patrick breathed. He waited for Joe to step forward, “this is Joe, he’s new.”

Pete squinted at Joe. “You’re right Patrick, he is pretty cute.”

Patrick panicked and began to open his mouth to explain that he did _not_ say he was cute and Pete was just being an asshole, but then thankfully, Mikey intervened.

He slapped Pete on the arm. “Dude, don’t harass the new kid.”

“It’s alright. I guess I am pretty cute if I do say so myself,” Joe smirked.

Patrick felt himself almost collapse. He took a seat at the table to stop himself from doing so.

“Joe, I like you already,” Pete said way too seriously, “I’m Pete and this is my precious angel boyfriend, Mikeyway.”

Mikey rolled his eyes. “ _Mikey’s_ just fine.

“And I’m Andy.”

Joe sat down next to Patrick— _close._ Very close. Like, thigh-to-thigh close. And there was _so_ much more room for Joe to move down. Patrick sucked in a breath and started to take his lunch out of his backpack.

“Did you bring a lunch, Joe?” he asked, taking out a sandwich.

“Huh?” Joe turned his head and blinked, his pretty eyelashes fluttering rapidly. Patrick wanted so badly to kiss his eyelids. “Oh, yeah, I brought, like, half of a PB&J sandwich.”

Patrick frowned. “That’s all? You want some of my ham sandwich?”

Joe shook his head in what seemed like disgust. “Nah, hate ham.”

“Yes, another vegan!” Andy suddenly exclaimed.

Joe chuckled. “Not vegan, just Jewish.”

Patrick stopped midway through his sandwich. “You’re Jewish?” he said, his mouth full.

Joe shrugged. “Yeah, kind of wish I could celebrate Christmas sometimes, but everything else is pretty normal.”

“Christmas sucks,” Mikey mumbled, “you’re not missing anything.”

“Oh, hush,” Pete messed with Mikey’s hair, “you’re just biased because you gotta drive up all the way to New Jersey to see your extended family every Christmas.”

“Maybe,” Mikey frowned, “fuck, I think you’re right, what am I missing?”

“You and me both, Mikey,” Joe added in.

Pete slammed his fists on the table. “Okay, that’s it. We’re totally having a Christmas party. You,” he pointed to Mikey, “me, Joe, Patrick, Andy, Frank, that one kid Ray Toro, and Gabe.”

“Not _Gabe_ ,” Patrick blurted out, “he’s gonna get wasted as fuck.”

“Okay, not Gabe.”

“Dude, it’s not even Christmas anymore,” Andy pointed out, “it’s, like, January 11th or something.”

“Pfft, _duh_ , everyone had a sucky Christmas except for me because my family is awesome,” Pete explained, “so I’m gonna show everyone how Christmas should be. A Post-Christmas Party, tee-em.”

“You’re gonna plan this all?” Patrick cocked an eyebrow.

“I think it’s a neat idea,” Joe hummed, finishing off the last of his sandwich.

“Yeah dude,” Pete was scrolling through something on his phone, “it’s gonna be on the 23rd—”

“Why the 23rd?” Patrick interrupted.

Pete scowled at him. “Because it’s the closest weekend day to the 25th, AKA the day Christmas is on? Oh my _God_ , Patrick.”

Patrick rolled his eyes and took a swig of water from his water bottle. “Whatever.”

“We’re gonna watch Christmas movies and drink hot chocolate and do Secret Santa,” Pete listed, grinning, “fuck, you guys are gonna have so much fun.”

“You’re gonna make me come anyways, so I don’t really have a say in this,” Mikey said putting his hands up defensively.

“I always make you come,” Pete said suggestively.

“You’re so gross,” Mikey said barely audibly, covering his face with his hand.

Andy chimed in. “I agree.”

—

After lunch, Patrick and Joe walked together out the lunchroom and back to Patrick’s locker. “Sorry about my friends,” Patrick stared down at his sneakers, “they’re kind of weird.”

Joe scoffed. “Are you kidding? I love them.”

Patrick was surprised. “Really? Even with Pete’s weird Post-Christmas party?”

“ _Especially_ that. Count me the fuck in,” Joe said, watching Patrick place all of his stuff onto one of his locker shelves. “I’m so glad I met you, like, you and your friends are way better than the ones I had back in Indiana.”

“That’s the greatest thing you’ve said to me today,” Patrick admitted, smiling wide, “I’m glad I met you, too.” It may have been Patrick’s eyes playing tricks on him, but he swore he saw Joe’s cheeks flush pink. Maybe it was just the shitty lighting in the school.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Joe said as the halls got emptier, “yeah?”

Patrick only nodded. He picked up his backpack and headed the other direction to his last few classes.

When he got home, the house was as silent as he had left it. Patrick sighed and pulled out his phone and unlocked his phone to reveal a text from Pete.

**_‘i think joe rlly likes u dude!!! score!!!’_ **

Patrick chose to ignore the text and started onto his homework. Regularly, he could focus and do nothing but homework straight, but this time, his thoughts began to drift off to Joe and his adorable smile. He was halfway through his math homework when he had to stop and take a walk around his house because he couldn’t fucking concentrate and he _hated_ it.

Patrick got his homework done somehow—half doing it, half procrastinating and thinking of Joe.

“Patrick, sweetie?” his mother called from downstairs. “I’m home.”

Patrick trudged down the stairs and met his mom at the front door, kissing her quickly on the cheek. “Hey, Mom.”

“How was school, honey?” Patrick’s mom placed her purse on the counter and smiled.

“There’s this new kid,” Patrick said, “he’s pretty cool.” _Pretty cool_ was a fucking understatement.

Patrick’s mom sighed. “That’s very nice. I’m glad you’re making a new friend.”

“Yeah, me too,” Patrick took off his hat and scrubbed a hand over his head.

Patrick’s mom toed off her heels. “Thinking pizza for dinner?”

“Sure,” Patrick shrugged and made his way back into his room.


	4. Chapter 4

The next couple days of the week went amazing. Okay not amazing, school’s never like that, but Joe was, like, a beacon of hope in this hell he called school.

On Tuesday, he met Patrick by his locker before English. On Wednesday, he did the same. On Thursday, he did the same. On Friday, _he did the same._

And, of course, he walked with Patrick to lunch everyday and Patrick tried to ignore Pete’s obnoxious grin every time they walked in together.

The more Joe and Patrick got talking. the more they found that they had in common. They liked the same comics, the same music and they even liked their eggs made the same way (Patrick didn’t even know how that conversation began).

The weekend found Patrick laying around his room and finishing up homework. Joe or Pete occasionally texted him; Pete about making a move on Joe, and Joe just sending him different emojis.

Patrick arrived at school the following Monday tired as hell. He had been up all Sunday night trying to finish his homework because he’d procrastinated Saturday and had gotten into an emoji text war with Joe.

“Patrick, you okay, dude?” Pete bumped into him as they walked through the school doors, “you look like hell.”

“I feel like hell,” Patrick admitted, not having the effort to push Pete away, “I’m so fucking tired.”

Pete shrugged. “Sorry, dude.”

Patrick didn’t feel like talking so he just shrugged back at him and walked over to his locker. He entered his combination and shoved his books into his locker a little more sloppy than usual. Shutting his locker, Patrick turned around only to find Joe grinning at him.

Patrick panicked. Fuck, he looked like shit, he didn’t want Joe to see him like this. “I, uh, hi, Joe.” He kept his face down.

“Hey, Patrick,” Joe scratched the back of his neck, “are you okay? You don’t look well.”

“I was up all night doing homework," _because I was too busy Saturday texting you,_ he wanted to add, “I’m just tired.”

“Aww,” Joe teased, playfully punching him in the shoulder, “want me to kiss you better?”

Patrick’s mind screamed YES but he knew Joe was only joking. He snorted and shut his locker closed, starting down the hall to English with Joe.

—

Patrick didn’t say much in any of his classes—he was too tired to say so. He didn’t know if Joe had noticed, but he caught him stealing glances at him every so often. It made him feel warm inside that Joe showed some sort of concern yet it made him embarrassed the Joe was feeling _bad_ for him.

At lunch, Pete was yelling about something the minute he and Joe sat down (Joe still sat so close to him, not that Patrick minded).

He held out a cap with slips of paper in it. “We’re picking Secret Santas today.”

As if on cue, Frank Iero and Ray Toro appeared from behind Pete. “What now, Pete? Is this about your party?” Frank asked, looking bored.

“Yes, we’re picking Secret Santas!” Pete said a little too happily, “Frank, why don’t you go first.”

Frank rolled his eyes, picked a slip of paper and passed the cap onto the next person. This went on and on until it was Joe’s turn. He nervously picked up a slip of paper then passed it over to Patrick, and he grabbed the final piece of paper.

Making sure no one was looking, he opened up the piece of paper and his stomach dropped.

He got _Joe._

It was like the earth fucking hated him, he got _Joe._ Now he would get all blushy and embarrassed when he handed Joe his gift (whatever the fuck it was) and everyone would make remarks—especially Pete.

Fucking Pete.

He probably planned it, the asshole that he is. Patrick looked over to Pete only to avert his eyes because Pete was just about to kiss Mikey and Patrick has seen them kissing way too many times than he should’ve. His hand immediately flew to cover Joe’s innocent eyes.

“Don’t look, it’s gross,” Patrick muttered in Joe’s ear.

“I don’t mind,” Joe giggled, his mouth close to Patrick. Patrick could feel his breath tickling his ear and he shivered.

“What do you mean you don’t mind?” Patrick snorted, “you wanna watch them or something?.”

Pete groaned from the other side of the table. “I can hear you, you know.”

“I know, maybe Joe just wants to watch you two go at it, I don’t judge,” Patrick removed his hand form Joe’s eyes.

Joe punched him in the arm. “Shut up.”

“Yeah, Patrick, shut _up_ ,” Pete mocked, wrapping his arm protectively around Mikey’s shoulders.

Patrick threw his arms up. “Can no one take a joke?”

He looked to Joe, but he just laughed at him. He fucking hated that he thought it was adorable.

After lunch, the rest of the day sucked. Classes were boring, homework sucked, and he hated school. Frank copied off his Chemistry homework and of course Patrick was the one to get caught so fuck you very much Frank Iero.

Patrick rushed to his locker at the end of the day and was literally just about to leave the hallway when someone yelled his name. His head spun around fast and he was met with the panicked expression of Joe.

“Dude, wait,” Joe panted, out of breath, “I totally fucking forgot to mention this at lunch and I’m sorry.”

Patrick nodded him to continue.

“Do you, uh, wanna come with me to the mall, maybe?” Joe mumbled, staring at his shoes, “I have to buy my mom something for her birthday and I thought I’d maybe ask someone to come with so I wouldn’t have to go alone.”

Patrick wanted to melt into puddle; Joe wanted _him_ to go with. Not anybody else, _Patrick._ Patrick hasn’t had a genuine friend like Joe in a while and his cheeks turned pink just thinking about it.

“I mean,” Joe blurted out after Patrick still hadn’t even acknowledged his question, “you don’t have to if you don’t want to, I was just wondering.”

“No, I mean _yes_ , I’d love to,” Patrick smoothed a hand over his hatless hair, “you drive?”

Joe nodded. “Mm-hm, I could probably get you home by 6:30 maybe.”

Patrick, who was 17 and still license-less, bit his lip and was reminded that he needed to get his fucking license, he couldn’t keep embarrassing himself like this. “That’d be great, thanks.”

Joe reached into his pockets and pulled out gloves. He tugged his gloves on and propped his jacket hood over his head. “Listen, I’m sorry this is such short notice.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Patrick stared at the stark cement of the sidewalk as they walked into the parking lot, “I would’ve had nothing else better to do at home.”

Joe hopped into the front seat of the car and started it up. “So, you don’t have your license?”

Oh God. Patrick frowned and prepared himself to be made fun of just as Pete and his other friends did. “No, I haven’t really, um, been committed to getting it.”

Joe adjusted his hands on the steering wheel. “Pfft, dude that’s fine, I only recently got my license a few months ago.”

The rest of the ride there was silent but it wasn’t awkward. Joe hummed along to the catchy pop songs and Patrick just smiled and couldn’t stop for the whole ride—he was _so, very_ fucked.

Entering the mall, Joe was talking a mile a minute. “I’m so happy you came with Patrick!” or “I really like that song on the radio” or “I don’t know what my mom wants I’m so dead”. Patrick couldn’t even keep track of the questions so he ended up laughing.

“Why are you laughing at me?” Joe nudged shoulders with Patrick.

“You’re too fucking excited for me, I don’t wanna shop with another Pete,” Patrick joked, sticking his hands further into his jean pockets.

“Oh, fuck off, I’m not _that_ excited,” Joe started into the mall, “you think my mom would want perfume or something?” He picked up a bottle of pink perfume.

“No,” Patrick’s eyes widened as he snatched the bottle from him and set it down, “perfume is a no-no.”

“Damn,” Joe stared at the bottle, “you a Mom-Whisperer?”

“No! I just...you know what, Moms love candles, get her that and a giftcard to, like, Bath and Body Works,” Patrick suggested, pushing himself and Joe out of the department store.

“Momma’s boy?” Joe raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, fuck off,” Patrick rolled his eyes.

Soon enough, Patrick and Joe found themselves in Yankee Candles and were flooded with the scent of autumn and pine. It took a lot of deciding, but Patrick helped Joe pick out a pumpkin pie scented candle and they were halfway done with shopping for Joe’s mom.

Patrick could see Bath and Body Works in sight when suddenly Joe yelped. Patrick whipped his head around and saw the cutest thing. Joe practically had his face squished against the glass of a guitar store with a look of awe.

“Oh my God,” Joe said under his breath. He took a step back, “I’ve been saving my money up for a new guitar for months.”

Patrick swiveled his head around and saw that Joe was looking at a guitar displayed in the store window. He smiled.

“I can’t believe they have the same model out here,” Joe muttered in awe, “do you mind if we go in?” He pointed into the store.

Patrick shrugged. He didn’t know very much about guitars—he knew how to _play_ one but he never put the effort into researching models and other accessories. “I don’t mind.”

“Awesome, thank you so much,” Joe wrapped his arms around Patrick in a thank-you-hug, but only for a moment. Patrick wanted, right then and there, to burst.

He stayed close behind as he watched Joe in his natural environment, picking up guitars and flicking through different guitar straps and playing with the knobs on amps.

“Can I help you two with anything?” one of the employees asked.

Patrick began to shake his head and say “no”, but Joe’s voice overpowered his.

“Yeah, how much is that Fender Telecaster in the window?”

The employee glanced over to the window. “It’s $449.99.”

“Fuck,” Joe said immediately, “well thanks anyways.”

“Not enough in your piggy bank I assume?” Patrick frowned and put a hand on Joe’s shoulder for comfort.

“Not like I expected it it be cheaper,” Joe sighed, “it was around the same price back in Indiana.”

“Sorry, dude,” Patrick didn’t know what else to say. When Pete wanted a bass sophomore year, he flirted with the employee until she lowered the price—he didn’t think he or Joe had the skills to do that. “Let’s just go get that giftcard, yeah?”

Joe stepped out of the store. “Yeah, it’ll get my mind off the guitar.”

“How long have you been saving up for the guitar?” Patrick asked as they headed out the store.

“Oh man,” Joe knit his eyebrows together, “since last _January_. Like, I don’t have a job so I’ve been scraping together money from like yard work and shoveling driveways.”

Patrick nodded and entered Bath and Body Works first, his nose filled with the headache inducing smell of women’s perfume and lotions. He picked out a giftcard and handed it to Joe. “Here, put, like, $15 on it.”

“Thanks,” Joe took the giftcard up to the front while Patrick waited by a rack of perfumes and body spray.

“Hey,” Joe dropped the giftcard into the Yankee Candles bag, “you wanna stop by a store or something before we leave? I feel like I’ve just dragged you around.”

“Nah, I’m fine. I just liked hanging out with you,” Patrick said this truthfully. He didn’t even _think_ about his favorite candy store or his favorite clothing store, his thoughts were occupied with Joe and Patrick didn’t mind at all.

“Really? You’re sure?” Joe asked again.

“Honest, Joe,” Patrick assured.

“Really?” Joe asked one more time, smiling a little. When he saw Patrick was shaking his head, he stopped trying, “okay fine. But I would’ve totally failed at buying my mom a present so thanks a lot for coming.”

“I know you would’ve totally failed,” Patrick said, noticing how close they’ve been walking together.

Joe huffed. “Rude.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love all ur comments thank you so much for being supportive <3 feel free to message me on tumblr if you want anything (marvelgoth.tumblr.com) (im 2 lazy to put the link in sorry)
> 
> BTW this fic will have a 100% happy ending because I hate fics that end up sad or unresolved


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrick's mom can be pretty cool sometimes

Joe drove Patrick back to his house in no time. Patrick was afraid Joe would get lost but he didn’t and Patrick was more than relieved.

“Thanks for everything,” Joe blurted out just as Patrick unbuckled his seatbelt, “I’m really happy you came with—for real.”

“No problem,” Patrick swallowed, noticing that they both were leaned towards the middle of the car. Patrick could feel Joe’s breath from where he was sitting.  

One second, Patrick was smiling at Joe and the next, Joe’s mouth seemed to get closer and closer to his and Patrick started to close his eyes, not knowing what would happen next.

But, in the millisecond before whatever would happen, Patrick’s cellphone dinged and both Joe and Patrick whipped back towards their respective car door.

“I’llseeyoutomorrowbye,” Patrick ran out the car before Joe could see his face turn bright red. He didn’t look back as he burst through his front door.

“Hi Patrick—”

He ignored his mom and raced upstairs to his room, shutting the door closed. His backpack was instantly thrown across the room and Patrick smoothed both hands over his hair.

A minute or so later, there was knocking on his door.

Patrick swung the door open to reveal the worried face of his mom. She had her arms folded and her hair wavy like she had just taken her hair out of a bun. “Are you alright, honey?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” Patrick snapped, running another hand over his hair. His heart was still beating a mile a minute.

“Patrick,” his mother demanded, “tell me the truth.”

“It’s nothing, Mom, it’s not a big deal,” he plopped himself down on the edge of his mattress.

“If it’s no big deal, then you should have no problem telling me,” his mom countered.

Patrick bit his lip and watched his legs hang over the edge of his bed. “Fine, it’s just...I have a crush on my friend—who’s a boy.”

“Is it _Pete?_ ” his mom asked.

“No, oh God, _ew_ ,” Patrick almost smiled, “he’s a new student. I told you about him.”

“Okay good,” his mom sighed and took a seat next to Patrick on his bed, “and that’s fine. Why? Did you think I would be upset?”

“Not really it’s just,” Patrick looked everywhere around his room except for his mom, “ugh, I’ll figure this out on my own.”

“You sure?” Patrick’s mom stood up and smoothed out her pants.

“Positive,” Patrick replied, watching his mom walk out of the most awkward conversation Patrick’s ever had in his entire life.

—

The rest of the week went by in one awkward blur. Neither Joe nor Patrick talked about the incident in the car and Patrick was totally fine with it. In fact, he was relieved.

Pete mentioned the Post-Christmas Party thing every fucking day and Patrick was pretty sure even Joe was starting to get annoyed.

Joe didn’t look Patrick in the eye as much as before, but Patrick didn’t blame him. 

—

Patrick told his mom about Pete’s party and how he got Joe for the Secret Santa and his mom was delighted.

So that’s how he found himself back at the mall with his mom right by his side.

“Do you know what you’re getting?” his mom asked, tying her hair into a ponytail. “I think you should get _that._ ”

Patrick whipped around to see a pink stuffed bear on shelf with the words “I Love You” written in cursive on the stomach. He covered his face with his hands. “Oh my _God_. It’s not even February yet.”

His mom hollered with laughter. “I’m just kidding, Patrick.”

Patrick rolled his eyes and walked further into the mall.

What would Joe like? He saw a bunch of cool Marvel and DC t-shirts, but that wasn’t good enough. He was thinking maybe a giftcard to GameStop or something, but that wouldn’t be good enough either.

On the way to Hot Topic (yeah, Patrick shops there and he isn’t ashamed), he was suddenly hit with the best Secret Santa gift ever. Patrick swerved over to the left and stood in front of the guitar store he and Joe had been in days earlier.

“Mom, I know what I’m getting,” Patrick gestured for her to come over to the window, “Joe told me he’s had his eye on that guitar for months.” He pointed to the Fender Telecaster Joe had been staring wide-eyed at.

His mom squinted at the price tag. “Honey, that’s $450.”

Patrick looked around. “I _know_ , I have about half that amount from my birthday last year so if you could pay half then I’d be the best gift giver ever.”

His mom raised an eyebrow. “Is this your plan to make your friend fall for you?”

“ _Mom_ ,” Patrick groaned, squeezing his eyes shut, “ _no_. I just want the satisfaction of being the best gift giver ever.”

His mom chuckled and tugged on his sleeve. “Let’s go buy that guitar then, eh?”

Patrick was absolutely giddy as his mom placed the guitar, in it’s shiny new box, right in his hands. He was afraid it would combust right in his hands so he tried to be gentle with it.

“That’s $450 which means no new video games for a few years,” his mom joked as Patrick tried very hard to concentrate on not dropping the guitar all the way back to their car.

“I can deal,” Patrick mumbled, holding the box tightly to his side. If this meant seeing the look of pure joy on Joe’s face, it was totally worth it.

“You must really like this boy,” his mom quipped, backing out of the mall parking lot, “you just bought a $450 guitar for him.”

“You’ll understand when you meet him,” Patrick tried to explain, stealing looks every so often to the back to make sure the guitar wasn’t getting too rattled.

“ _When_ I meet him?” His mom cocked an eyebrow.

“Not like that,” Patrick blurted out, “not yet at least.”

She smiled warmly to herself and stayed silent the rest of the trip home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry its kind of short. a big chapter may be coming up ;-)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ;-)

Patrick stared at the box wrapped up in red plaid wrapping paper with a bright red bow perched at the top. He toyed with his shirt collar and swallowed several times before taking a swig of water from a 3-day-old water bottle.

Patrick grabbed the wrapped box and and dragged it (carefully) down the stairs, careful not to disturb his sister with whatever she was doing downstairs.

It was Saturday and the entire week felt like hell. During the week, Patrick wanted so badly to blurt out to Joe that he had gotten him the best present ever. It took lots of biting his tongue and self control not to, but he never mentioned the guitar once.

Now, he lifted the present up onto the counter so he could take a second to tug his wool hat over his head. He threw a jacket on and took the present into his arms.

“Bye Mom!” Patrick yelled before shutting the door behind him. Pete’s house was literally a block away from his house.

He walked fast, leaves crunching under his boots.

Patrick let himself into Pete’s house and his ears were flooded with Christmas music. “Pete, get over here.”

Pete appeared in front of Patrick wearing an ugly Christmas sweater and a huge smile on his face. “Merry fuckin’ Christmas, Patrick.”

Patrick rolled his eyes and set his present on the floor. “Where should I put this?”

“Ooh, what is it?—nevermind! I don’t want to spoil it,” Pete happily picked up the present and plopped it down next to a fake tree the size of maybe a four year old.

Patrick snorted. “Nice tree.”

“It’s Mikey’s,” Pete explained, “we don’t have a tree. Anymore, at least.”

As if on cue, Mikey’s popped out from the kitchen. “I think your cookies are burning.”

Pete gasped. “Fuck!” He ran into the kitchen leaving him and Mikey alone.

The doorbell rang and Patrick and Mikey ran to answer it. Frank bolted in, nearly knocking both Patrick and Mikey over. Ray walked in shortly after, carrying a medium sized present.

“Hi,” Andy said behind Patrick, causing him to jump.

“Jesus, when did you get here?” Patrick recollected himself.

Andy shrugged, propping his present up in his arms. “Right after Frank and Ray.”

“Andy!” Pete came in and wrapped Andy into a bone-crushing hug. He snatched the present from his arms and sprinted into the living room to put the present down,

“Your sweater’s stupid!” Andy yelled before going off to the others.

Patrick stood in the middle of Pete’s hallway watching the sky get dark and a car whizz past Pete’s house. Joe was the only one who wasn’t here.

What if he didn’t show up? Would Patrick have bought that guitar for _nothing?_ He stood anxiously and got hopeful every time a car came down the street. He could hear the others laughing about something in the kitchen while Pete tried to sing along Christmas songs he was playing.

Patrick stood for a good ten minutes before _finally_ a car rolled up next to Pete’s driveway and Joe stepped out with a decent sized present.

Patrick’s first instinct was to go out and wrap his arms around Joe because he was literally the only person he was looking forward to see tonight (no offense, Pete). He nervously stepped forward to hold the door open for Joe who smiled at him like he always did.

“Hey, Patrick,” Joe greeted, his cheeks flushed pink from the cold, “where, ah, should I put this?”

“Here,” Patrick took the present from Joe’s arms, their fingers brushing for a second. He tried his best to ignore this. “Come on.” He nodded towards the living room and lead Joe to the small tree.

Joe took one look at the tree and laughed.

“I know, Pete didn’t have a bigger one,” Patrick mumbled, “sorry to ruin your Christmas experience.”

“Nah,” Joe shook his head, “it’s better than any tree I’ve ever—well, _never_ —had.”

They walked into the kitchen together and Pete yelled out. “Joe, you made it! Merry Christmas, man.”

“Merry Christmas,” Joe repeated, testing the words.

“Like my sweater?” Pete gestured to his purple Christmas sweater decorated with reindeer and Christmas trees.

“It’s… well, nice, I guess, very—”

“It’s the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, at least,” Mikey said from the back, “it’s okay, Joe, you can tell him the truth.”

“Yeah, love you, too, Mikey,” Pete folded his arms, turning back around to the group.

Patrick and Joe went to join them.

“Dude, _I_ think your sweater is sweet,” Frank gave a toothy grin and shoveled a sugar cookie into his mouth, “at least in my opinion.”

“Well, yeah, that’s because your fashion sense is rotating between, like, _five_ different shirts for a year,” Andy called from the table.

“Fuck _off_ , Hurley,” Frank stood on his tippy-toes to give him a glare, “and what the fuck are you doing over there anyways?”

“I’m making a garland for the Christmas tree,” Andy said, “with yellow and pink post-it notes.”

Frank blinked at him. “Oh, cool, dude.”

“Pete, you got a Coke or something?” Ray asked from somewhere else.

Pete tutted. “Nuh-uh, Toro, just because you said that, I’m making you try some eggnog.”

_“Dude,_ ” Ray shook his head furiously, “eggnog is fucking disgusting.”

“I’m waiting, Ray,” Pete opened the fridge and took out a red solo cup, “there’s no alcohol in it.”

“That sucks,” Ray mumbled, looking at the cream colored liquid like something would come out of it and bite him.

Joe cupped his hands around his mouth. “Chug it!”

“Yeah, chug it!” Pete grinned and started to rap his knuckles against the counter while chanting, “chug, chug, chug, chug.”

Ray frowned and downed the entire eggnog in ten seconds. “I hate you, Wentz.”

Patrick was getting antsy. He wanted to get to the present opening so badly, he felt like he’d spontaneously combust. “When are we gonna do Secret Santa?” he blurted out, “I want to, um, get it over with.”  _Liar._

“We can do it right now, Patrick,” Pete poked him in the stomach, “let me just put Home Alone on the TV.” He rushed back into the living room.

“Finally!” Andy announced, spreading his arms out, holding the pink and yellow paper garland from both ends.

“At least Andy’s having a good time,” Mikey sighed into his solo cup.

Frank put Mikey into a headlock. “Come on, Mikey, get into the Christmas spirit.”

“Get,” Mikey struggled against Frank, “your hands off of me.” He slithered out of Frank’s grip and punched him in the shoulder.

“Okay, it’s ready!” Pete exclaimed from the living room, “I forgot how much I love this goddamn movie.”

Mikey was the first to disappear into the living room, then Frank and Ray, Andy, then Patrick and Joe.

Patrick really admired Pete’s dedication to the party; there were blankets and pillows all over the floor and a plate of okay-looking sugar cookies on the coffee table.

“Everyone go get your present,” Pete jabbed his thumb towards the tree (now with a nice post-it note garland, thanks to Andy).

Patrick was the first to take his present, wrapping his arm around it protectively once he sat back down. After everyone was back on the floor, he noticed Pete didn’t have a present. “Dude, where’s your present.”

“Uneven number of people,” Pete answered, “because you wouldn’t let my boy Gabe come.”

“Trust me, you wouldn’t have wanted him here,” Patrick rolled his eyes, “isn’t he Jewish, too?”

“That’s the point!” Pete threw his arms up.

Patrick snorted. “It’s still for the best that he isn’t here.”

Pete swatted him away like a fly. “Whatever, exchange.”

Patrick noticed his hands were sweaty and shaking. He heard the rustle of paper and the squeak of sweaty hands on wrapping paper. It was now or never.

Patrick pushed the present so that it hit Joe’s knee and looked down at his lap, biting his lip until he was hit in the forehead with a box. “Ow, what the fuck.”

“Sorry,” Frank’s voice said.

“Dude, no way, you got me?” Joe’s grin was wider than ever, “I already know this is gonna be the best present ever.”

Patrick, however, was _blushing_ harder than ever. He picked up the box Frank had thrown at him and scowled. “You didn’t even bother to wrap it with real wrapping paper?”

“We didn’t have wrapping paper, okay?” Frank said stubbornly. “Newspaper’s just as good.”

Patrick set the box on the floor.

Pete leaned against the couch, watching them exchange gifts like a movie. “Let’s go from left to right, starting with Frank and ending with Joe.”

Patrick felt himself start to get hot. He had to go through everyone else before Joe opened his present. Patrick was getting more anxious by the second.

“So, this is from Mikey,” Frank began to rip off the paper and revealed a Game Boy Color, “oh my _God_ , Mikey, where the fuck did you find this?” He turned the Game Boy around in his hands. “It has fucking _Pokémon_ in it?”

Mikey smiled and nodded, clearly enjoying himself. “Gerard got it for me.”

“I fucking love you, Mikeyway.”

“Hey,” Pete glared at Frank, “watch it.” He pointed to Ray. “Your turn, Toro.”

“This is from Andy, I think?” When Andy nodded, Ray clawed at the paper and unwrapped the box in no time, “aw, sweet, guitar strings. I’ve been wanting these for weeks.”

“I _know,_ it’s all you ever talked about,” Andy rolled his eyes, “so I practically _had_ to get it for you.”

“Thanks, man,” Ray gave Andy a thumbs up.

“Your turn,” Pete put his hand on Mikey’s thigh, which was quickly slapped away.

Mikey sighed and shook the present, frowning slightly when it made no sound. “From… Ray?” Ray nodded and Mikey ripped the paper off of the box, “aw, sweet, comics. And a… Starbucks giftcard?”

“Yeah, because you need coffee, like, 24/7,” Ray explained.

Mikey laughed. “You’re absolutely fucking right. Thanks a lot, Toro.”

“No problem, Mikes.”

Pete pointed to Andy. “Go, dude.”

Andy picked the present up from the floor. “From you, Joe?”

“Uh-huh,” Joe smiled at him.

Andy shrugged and unwrapped the present and took it out of another box. “Oh, dude, is this a Packers jersey?” Joe nodded, still smiling wide, “and new _drumsticks_?” Andy was grinning wider than ever and he pat Joe on the back, “you’re the _best,_ Joe.”

“I know, I know,” Joe teased.

“And my man, Patrick,” Pete winked at him.

Patrick noticed the box was significantly smaller than the other presents—not like he expected Frank to go all out or anything, knowing how lazy he was. “This better be a block of pure gold or something.”

“Even better, trust me,” Frank smirked.

Patrick unwrapped the box and pulled out several slips of paper which he later realized were three $100 bills. His eyes widened. “Dude, where’d you get this kind of money?”

“I do stuff, you know, I’m not _all_ that lazy,” Frank rolled his eyes, “I didn’t know what to get you, so—”

“This is fine,” Patrick actually gained back more than enough money he used to buy the guitar. It was more than fine, “honestly, thank you so much.”

“And finally,” Pete blinked and then grinned, “Joe.”

Patrick felt his stomach drop. Everyone had gotten small gifts for their Secret Santa (with Frank as an exception) and here Patrick was with an almost $500 guitar. He swallowed, tapping his fingers against his knee to distract himself.

“This is pretty much bigger than, like, Rhode Island, Patrick,” Joe laughed, “I’m kind of excited.”

“You should be,” Patrick felt his face start to get sweaty. _Fuck, here we go._

Joe began to unwrap the present and it felt like he was doing it in slow motion. Every little rip and tear was loud in Patrick’s ears.

When Joe got pretty much 90% of the paper off, he abruptly stopped, staring at it wide-eyed.

_Oh God, he hates it,_ Patrick suddenly thought, frowning.

A minute or so passed and Pete spoke up, leaning his head towards Joe’s direction “Joe… are you alright?”

Everyone else’s eyes were glued to Joe, unsure of what he was thinking or what the hell was up with him.

Patrick watched Joe swallow and he slowly turned his head to meet eyes with Patrick. “You… got me the Fender Telecaster.”

Patrick turned away and his face got redder than it had ever been in his life. Great, people were watching him, too. “I- I don’t know, you were so excited about it at the mall,” he dared himself to meet eyes with Joe again, “and I thought it’d be a good present and I—”

Joe leaned forward, and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ohhhh shiiiit


	7. Chapter 7

Patrick’s eyes widened as Joe’s lips touched his. He panicked, not knowing whether to kiss back or not.

After a wolf whistle from Frank, Joe pulled away.

Patrick stared at him, his mouth still agape. “I’m… guessing you like it.”

“Holy shit,” Pete muttered, “best. Christmas party. Ever.”

“I like _you,_ dumbass,” Joe brought Patrick closer, pulling him into a hug and resting his forehead on his shoulder. He sniffled against Patrick’s shoulder.

“You crying, dude?” Patrick’s stomach dropped as he slid his hand up to touch Joe’s hair comfortingly.

Joe lifted his head up and rubbed his eyes. “It’s just… I’ve never had a friend, or friends, like this.”

Patrick only laughed.

“Hey, you think I could, um, talk to you alone, Patrick?” Joe put some space between them. He wiped his eyes one last time before sniffling rather loudly, “just for a little bit.”

Pete smirked as did Mikey, Frank, Ray and even Andy. They all fucking knew from the start, didn’t they? Pete smiled at the two of them. “Go ahead you guys, we’re done with the exchange anyway.”

“Yes, sure,” Patrick stood up with Joe, “uh, how about we go on the back porch?”

“Whatever’s fine,” Joe shrugged, following Patrick out into the chill January night. He shut the screen door behind them and stuck his hands in his pockets. “I was serious, Patrick.”

Patrick tilted his head. “About what?”

“About how I said I liked you,” Joe mumbled, kicking leaves to the side with the side of his shoe, “I think I have for a few weeks.”

“Why’d you kiss me then just now?” Patrick asked, afraid of what Joe’d say next. He didn’t dare meet eyes with him so he stared at Pete’s porch and chose to try and push his feelings aside for now.

Joe forced a laugh. “You got me the fucking guitar of my dreams, man. I couldn’t take it anymore, I was so overcome with passion and I- I don’t know how it happened.”

Patrick shrugged. “It’s no big deal.”

“No big _deal_?” Joe scoffed, “dude, that’s like $450! I could have never afforded that.”

“Really, it’s fine,” Patrick shrugged again, “my mom helped me pay for it.”

Joe shook his head rapidly. “I know you were just being nice—”

 _“Just being nice?_ ” Patrick said a little more loudly than he should’ve, “I fucking like you too, asshole.”

Joe gaped at him.

“I had the biggest, most embarrassing crush on you ever since the locker thing,” Patrick admitted, his face getting obviously redder but it could be blamed on the cold, “I thought maybe the satisfaction of seeing you open the present would get rid of my crush on you.”

Joe stared at him glassy eyed for a good fifteen seconds.

“It doesn’t get rid of my crush on you,” he said softly. He stepped forward towards Patrick and lifted his hand up to slide it along Patrick’s jaw.

Patrick swallowed and blinked a few times. He closed his eyes as Joe closed the gap between them. This time he did kiss back, throwing his arms around Joe’s neck to keep him close. Joe’s body was warm against his and he did not want to let go at all.

When he felt Joe’s hand snake up under his sweatshirt, Patrick jolted away. “Joe, your hands are freezing.”

Joe giggled and leaned his forehead against Patrick’s and held his face in his hands. “You’re adorable.” He took a step back to give Patrick some space.

Patrick flushed. “Shut up.” He stood on his tippy toes to press a kiss to the side of Joe’s mouth. He then reached out to grab Joe’s hand.

“I think we fit,” Joe quipped, squeezing Patrick’s hand in his, “I’m glad you got locked in that locker.”

Patrick rolled his eyes. He opened the screen door and pulled the two of them inside.

Pete was howling with laughter about something the minute they stepped in. Patrick let go of Joe’s hand so that the group (specifically Pete) wouldn’t make any remarks.

Pete noticed them walk in first. He narrowed his eyes. “You two better not have done anything out there. Mikey has a blacklight.”

Patrick’s hand went to his face. “I hate you.”

—

The following Sunday, Patrick’s mom met Joe for the first time. Patrick was scared about the whole encounter between them but in the end, he had nothing to worry about—Patrick’s mom _loved_ Joe.

She even asked if he wanted to come over for dinner another day this week.

Joe had brought his new guitar and Patrick dug his acoustic out from his closet. He taught Patrick how to play a song he’d never heard before, but he liked the melody.

They giggled like middle schoolers and exchanged kisses in between strumming. At one point, Patrick sighed. “I hate people like us.”

“Huh?” Joe looked up from tuning his guitar.

Patrick smiled at him. “People who kiss each other every other second. Like Pete and Mikey.”

Joe blew air out of his nose and rolled his eyes. “I promise we won’t become another Pete and Mikey.”

“We’re getting close to that,” Patrick noted, scooching himself towards the back of his bed. He set his guitar next to the bed and leaned his head against his headboard.

“Nah, don’t worry, we’ll keep the kissing and stuff for in private,” Joe continued to strum chords on his guitar, “usually.”

“Usually?” Patrick frowned.

“Yeah, I’m totally gonna kiss you in front of your locker before class at least _once_ ,” Joe explained, “it’s a classic high school couple thing.”

“You’re gross,” Patrick mumbled sleepily, rolling on to his side.

Joe leaned his guitar against Patrick’s dresser. “Aw, don’t fall asleep on me, dude, come on.”

Patrick grumbled something then patted the space next to him.

Joe got the memo and snuggled in next to Patrick, realizing how tired he actually was. He yawned and wrapped an arm around Patrick’s waist and drifted off to sleep with his nose buried in Patrick’s hair.

—

School the next day was… well there just wasn’t a word for it.

He and Joe held hands in crowded hallways where no one would see and kissed behind lockers and doors. Pete nudged Patrick in the side every time he passed him in the hallway and Frank would whistle at him during Chemistry.

Even people Patrick barely _knew_ were approaching him.

“Hey,” a girl had tapped Patrick on the shoulder in History class, “I heard you’re dating the new boy, Joe.”

Patrick flushed pink and turned around. “Who told you?”

“You _are_ dating him,” the girl’s eyes practically sparkled, “I can’t believe it, you two are the _cutest._ ”

“Who told you?” Patrick repeated.

The girl scowled. “Pete Wentz. Chill out, dude.”

 _I’m going to murder him,_ Patrick thought. He and Joe weren’t some celebrity couple; he didn’t want so much attention drawn to the two of them.

Patrick whacked the side of Pete’s head in math class and felt pretty good doing so. “That was for not being able to keep your mouth shut.”

“What’d I do this time?” Pete winced and rubbed the side of his head.

“Some girl asked if I was dating Joe,” Patrick plopped down in his seat and folded his arms, “who else did you tell?”

“Just a few people,” Pete shrugged, “not a whole lot.”

In the middle of Patrick rolling his eyes, he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Patrick, I heard you’re dating the cute new boy. I didn’t know you liked _boys_ ,” a girl gasped behind him, “I would’ve never guessed, that’s _adorable_.”

Patrick, at a loss for words, just smiled and nodded. He narrowed his eyes at Pete after she had returned to her seat. “My sexuality is not some kind of _accessory_ ,” he stage-whispered to him.

Pete shrugged. “Information spreads, bro.”

“Oh yeah? You didn’t see me gossiping when you and Mikey started dating,” Patrick countered.

“Yeah, that’s because it was _bound_ to happen. I talked about Mikey to everyone,” Pete rolled his eyes, “plus, people are always surprised when it’s the quiet ones.”

Pete grumbled something under his breath and ignored him for the rest of class. He bolted out of the classroom the minute the bell rang.

Joe was at his locker not too long after.

“Have people been bothering you about us dating?” Patrick asked, tossing his books onto one of the shelves.

Joe laughed and scratched the back of his neck. “Yeah, it’s not like I mind or anything, though.”

“You _don’t_?” Patrick’s eyes widened, “I wanted to keep us low profile.”

Joe shrugged. “What can you do, man. Pete has a big mouth.”

Patrick shut his locker and slipped his hand into Joe’s, leaning into him. “I guess you’re right, there’s nothing we can do about it.” They started to walk towards the lunchroom, “we should accept it, maybe? One week of fame then people will find something else to gossip about.”

“Exactly,” Joe stopped by the trophy cases and squeezed Patrick’s hand, “it’s no big deal.”

A couple of giggling freshmen skipped by and Patrick let go of Joe’s hand. Instead, he smiled and softly, grabbed the back of his neck, and pulled him in for a lingering kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand it's done
> 
> i cant believe i wrote this in a week (knowing that i am slow as HELL at writing wow). thank you to everyone who commented support <3 this was the first joetrick ive ever written and i'd say it's pretty good for my first B)
> 
> feel free to message me on kik (celesteidk) or tumblr (marvelgoth.tumblr.com) if u wanna talk abt emo ships or something. i pretty much ship patrick w everyone tbfh


End file.
